73-year-old monarch was pictured with the shiner on his left eye and a small sticking plaster on the bridge of his nose at a reception for new ambassadors to Spain

The 73-year-old monarch was pictured with the shiner on his left eye and a small sticking plaster on the bridge of his nose at a reception for new ambassadors to Spain on Tuesday.

Royal aides said the King had received the injuries earlier in the day but they were not serious enough to alter his schedule.

The King himself commented on the mishap: “This is what happens when one slams into a door,” he said.

Spanish media reported that the accident was in fact the fault of a member of the palace staff, who pushed open the door at the moment the King was opening it from the other side.

“It was an accident and his job is not in danger” said a source at Zarzuela Palace.


The King is no stranger to such injuries. Back in 1981 he suffered cuts to his face, chest and arms when he ran straight through a glass door in a rush to dive into the swimming pool at the Zarzuela Palace.

Earlier this year he complained over constant press speculation as to his state of health. At a press call he snapped at journalists after one asked after his health.

“What you like to do is kill me and have me in a coffin every day," he sniped.

The monarch sometimes walks with the aid of a cane following joint replacement surgery on his right knee in June, an operation required to ease pain from old sailing and skiing injuries.

In September he was back in hospital to have surgery on the Achilles tendon of his left leg after it had become strained from taking the pressure while his right leg recovered.

In May 2010 he had a benign tumour removed from his lung.